ISPS HANDA VIC OPEN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIAFEB 06-09

Race to the CME Globe: 500 PointsFormat: 72 holesPurse: $1,100,000Par: 73History:This is the second year for the event.Yardage: 6,625France’s Celine Boutier knocked in a two-putt par at No. 18 and earned her first LPGA Tour victory at the 2019 ISPS Handa Vic Open. The 25-year-old from Montrouge, France, returned an even-par 72 in Sunday’s final round to finish at -8 and become the season’s first Rolex First-Time Winner

February 05 Golf Channel (ET)11:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.February 06 Golf Channel (ET)11:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.February 07 Golf Channel (ET)9:30 p.m. - 3:00 a.m.February 08 Golf Channel (ET)8:30 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.

Only fourteen of LPGA's Top-60 is in the field this week; it's conducive to produce a Rolex First-Time Winner.

Indeed, Celine Boutier broke out for her first win last year and has played at a high level since.

This is the third tournament of the year and Koreans have been shut out in the previous two; this's unusual considering Koreans won 14 of 31 events last year.

It wouldn't surprised me if we've a first time winner again and if Koreans are shut out for the third tournament in a row.

Here she's

Such a long flight to go back and forth.. I don't blame most top players not making the tournament.. This would give Inbee good chance to move up in the ranking..

Inbee's lack of length was exposed at Gainbridge LPGA; she needs to make everything with her putter to have any chances at all.

Length isn't an issue this week, but the wide open nature of the courses will entice every players with hot putters.

The biggest uncertainty at this tournament is wind; the windy third round last year wiped out everyone but Celine.

There's also the Australian Women's Open near Adelaide a week later. That will attract a few more names and I thought a few more names would make it here earlier and also play the Vic Open.

Here's the nearest weather station. Pretty nice weather for a golf tournament. Earlier the forecast was more windy but this looks nice and gentle. Those courses on both sides of Melbourne are pretty exposed and often windy. Torquay, Australia 10-Day Weather Forecast | Weather UndergroundInteresting to see how the mixed event will play out. Will try to watch a day or two but the schedule is still open.

The pairings are out; 288 players on a tournament is a lot of players.

They'll all rotate between Beach Course and Creek Course the first two days.

Leaderboard | LPGA | Ladies Professional Golf Association

The triple threats from KLPGA; Ayean Cho, Hye Jin Choi and Hee Jeong Lim.

Ayean is Rookie of the Year; Hye Jin Player of the Year and Hee Jeong the highest Rolex ranked KLPGA player, #24.

'국내파 3인방', 한국의 LPGA 시즌 첫 우승 도전장

This may be a peanut tournament for LPGA; but it's huge in Korea with five of their most watched young stars,"The Z Generatiion", represented.

Yealimi Noh and Jiwon Jeon are also in the field, in addition to Ayean, Hye Jin and Hee Jeong.

코리안 시스터즈 '전격 Z 작전'

I'm going to go with Minjee this week. She missed the cut last year, but had two wins prior to it becoming an LPGA event. Here early season for the last few years has been excellent.

I expect at least one rookie in the top 10, and I think two is possible. Jiyai Shin may also be a factor.

Hye Jin should land a top 10.

There're 15 rookies in the field this week; more than 10% of the field.

One of them should be in the Top-10 based on random probabilities. We'll have an unusually talented rookie class if we've more than one.

Good luck, Cheyenne!

2020 Cheyenne Woods Starts Season With Great Hope | LPGA | Ladies Professional Golf Association

One of them is Matilda Castren, a Finn on the LPGA tour. Don't have too many of those. Apparently she's only the second one ever to make it. This seems to be her first event so fingers crossed she will play well.

This's an long interview video on Minhee Lee by Australian media; she seems to be more comfortable down under than other parts of the world

Thank you for posting. She conducts herself very well in front of the camera.

Just for my curiosity re: not having many Australian sponsors. How much would a company have to dish in to sponsor an athlete like her?

Now, please stop posting these things. I really need to get some work done if I am to go and watch golf later in the week.

I don't know why but Australian companies haven't been active when it comes to sponsor golf events or golfers.; both men and women.

Top golfers Adam Scott and Jason Day are mostly sponsored by international companies; also, many sponsors for Australia's biggest sporting event, tennis Australian Open, are foreign companies.

I didn't grow up here but my first guess would be that the various forms of football dominate the market for sponsorship dollar. There's a plenty to choose from: Australian rules, rugby league, rugby union and the actual football aka soccer. Whatever is left for individual sports probably goes to tennis and maybe swimming. Recreational golf is fairly popular but most people I talk to don't seem to watch it much from the TV.

Did I say something about doing something called work? I believe I meant I need to get another cup of coffee :)

Su Oh gets her first LPGA victory this week, at least I hope so.. Could be a good week for Hannah Green to show last year was no fluke thing. I feel like Cheyenne Knight and Lucky 6 contend this week.

Sisu, Matilda!! I also like how Cydney Clanton is trending so far this season.....watched her a bit at Diamond Resorts.

It hasn't been easy for Mariah

Had the pleasure of meeting Matilda when she played in a WAPT event at my home club last May. Extremely nice young lady. Pulling for her to play well.

Go, Haley!

Will go and watch her tomorrow. Can't make it today. Will go to the Thirteenth beach also on Saturday and am hoping to watch her again then. Great weather for links golf - nice and sunny with a bit of breeze but not too much. Might pick up a bit on the weekend but still not too much, maybe 20 mph or so.

Congratulations, Andrea!

Matilda Castren -3 after two holes. Now that's a way to make an entry!

Wow - Madelene Sagstrom -5 through 6 holes. The girl has hit some form this season.

Make that -6 through 7.

My Ph.D. is in computer science, not mathematics, but in my arithmetics the pars do not add up to 73.

On the men's scores the Creek Course total = 72. Am I missing something here or did someone mix up the beans when counting?

Edit: The above is Matilda Castren, now that I look at Madele Sagström I get this:

Hope their actual score cards are more identical ;)

Always rooting for Madelene! Hope she can keep it up all season. It's pretty easy to notice how a lot of players put together a 2-3 week stretch (sometimes more) of great golf, and then the tank dries up a bit.

Grrr. Even though the tournament is being broadcast on The Golf Channel, it's not listed as an LPGA event, so my DVR didn't automatically record it. I manually set it up, but missed the first hour of coverage. Check your DVR schedules.

'Nice to see Haley off to a nice start. Top 10 coming?

Rough day for Patty. She shared a piece of the lead after the first round of the previous tournament, but is quite likely to miss the cut here.

Last season Celine stepped up her game, starting with a win at the VIC. Is this Madeline's year to shine?

Lots of familiar names below the cut line. They have work to do today.